I ended up collecting two buckets full - one for Grace and me and one for Grace's niece Sheri who works with our same mission. The plums are mainly stone so I looked at this bucket and figured it would yield maybe 5 jars of jam. Grace offered to make the jam and give me some, so I offered to help her make the jam on Saturday. She took the plums home to cook. We ended up having to do the work at the school which turned out nice because the kitchen was nice and roomy for two to work in.
The first job was to get the stones out of the plums. Grace had cooked the plums so they were soft. We then pushed them through a strainer. We ended up having to pick the pits out one at a time with a spoon. So we talked and spooned. Then we boiled the fruit and the jelly sugar. We went through the cooking process four times.
I did research before going to help to find out what else mirabelle can be used for. I decided to make a torte while we waited for the jam to cook. I had to leave the pits in so this will be an interesting eat. I think it will also be very sour - we might need ice cream to cut the sourness. We ran out of time before we both had to move on to other Saturday jobs so we will try it Monday at school. And then we can have others to help us eat it so I don't have all this sweet at home.
The final product ended up being 20 jars for the one bucket. We used a variety of jars and tops so it was a colorful collection. The process was pretty stickey so I am not sure this is a skill I will continue to hone.
